Sporting Lessons: What business can learn from elite sport

Here is an interesting interview with Ric Charlesworth -

http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=6244&t=/Ric-Charlesworth--High-Performance-Consultant/Sporting-Lessons-What-business-can-learn-from-elite-sport

Ric Charlesworth is a sports and performance consultant and a former Australian cricketer and Olympic gold medal winning field hockey player and coach. Born in Western Australia, he is a Doctor of Medicine. Between 1983 and 1993 he was a Member of the Australian Parliament.

Sporting Lessons: What business can learn from elite sport

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes

'Nah, the thing that makes us successful is good leadership. But it doesn't just come from the performance director. Leadership happens throughout the programme and it's the key to everything.' Shane Sutton, British Cycling

Team Great Britain put the rest of the world to shame when they took seven of the ten gold medals on offer in the Beijing Olympic track cycling events. How did this nation, not traditionally a cycling powerhouse, get to this point?  This article explains how leadership played its role.

 http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/heroes-villains-and-velodromes-chris-hoy-and-britains-track-revolution

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes

Under the Floodlights

'Winning brings out the qualities in people you admire.' Sir Alex Ferguson

With careful reflection, there are things that can be learned from any team that has a great track record and performance. Here are some valuable take-aways from Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United:

http://www.cmoe.com/blog/manchester-united-leadership-teamwork-success.htm
http://www.leadermagazine.co.uk/article.php?id=162

• Embrace change
• Make the effort to develop talent
• Create a culture for winning
• Gain respect, not fear
• Delegate and observe
• Analyse defeat in order to improve
• Be decisive and stand your ground
• Remember small things, like names
• Take care of yoursel
• Make all staff feel part of the team

Under the Floodlights

Leadership Lessons from World Class Coaches

"I don't look at myself as a basketball coach. I look at myself as a leader who happens to coach basketball." Mike Krzyzewski


Each college basketball season draws millions of Americans into a compelling drama that culminates in March Madness. At the center of the drama are the coaches striving for a championship season. Pat Summitt and Mike Krzyzewski are both expected to field highly competitive teams year after year. Retired icons, such as Dean Smith and John Wooden, are remembered for their lifetime achievements in winning championships. Each of these coaches has written books describing how they apply their craft as leaders of student-athletes.

Emerging leaders in all fields can reflect on the ideas and instructive examples in these books to develop their own philosophy of practice. People interested in leadership are intrigued by two basic questions: How do these great coaches amass winning records year after year? What does their leadership philosophy teach us about how to build high-performing teams?

This article shares and interprets important leadership lessons culled from the books of two of these extraordinary coaches, Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) of Duke University and Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee. Although their personalities and styles differ in many respects, each has a philosophy of practice that generates overall team resilience and exceptional results--a philosophy that can be applied to your leadership needs, as well.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HTO/is_3_35/ai_n24994739/

Leadership Lessons from World Class Coaches